1983 Nissan Sentra 1.6L
Summary:
Old reliable
Faults:
Timing belt broke once and bent two valves, fixed myself very easily.
Water pump.
Rear shocks.
Carburetor overhauled.
Normal wear items; brake pads, hoses, belts.
General Comments:
Car was in my family since new. It was a white 2 door with the five speed manual with aftermarket A/C, and no power steering and no sway bars or radio.
I added a front sway bar from an 86 hatchback, a nice Pioneer radio with speakers and amps, seat covers and alloy wheels to make it nicer.
Was a charm with gas. 40 MPG! Rode pretty good and handled great after the sway bar was put in. Always started with the first crank, as long as you blipped the throttle once in the morning.
Had two accidents in it, but luckily there were no injuries. Fixed it a bit and kept going.
Sold it in 2004, and still regret it to this day. Bought a 1990 four door this year due to that, LOL. Wish I still had it.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes
Review Date: 27th July, 2013
17th Oct 2009, 19:48
WOW. I'd say whoever owned your car before didn't care for it. I've had mine since early 2001 and the dash isn't cracked, though I've had many of the repairs mentioned: I think all of the sensors have been replaced at this point (mass airflow, crank position, etc, etc), one of the catalytic converters went bad, replaced the computer, and the timing chain.
When thru a bad patch a year ago and it was towed 3 times while Nissan dealership tried to figure out what was wrong. Now it's all good. Back speakers deteriorated, but I replaced them myself (not hard to do and I'm a girl). Had CD replaced this year (it was working when it wanted to for about 5 years).
The car now has 130k. Hoping for 200k out of it. I figure even with the money I've put into it, it's still a lot cheaper than a new one!!